Salon: Behind the myth of Elon Musk: Has the onetime Silicon Valley visionary lost his magic?

Early in his career, Musk, now 45, made so much money that Silicon Valley viewed him as a visionary. He sold his first startup, Zip2, to Compaq for $305 million, earning him $22 million; he then helped found PayPal, which sold to eBay for $1.5 billion, netting him $180 million. But with the three companies he now runs he has proven to be, as a businessman at least, ineffective at best, cynical at worst. All three companies are beset by debt and cash flow issues.

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